The Hijlory ^ A N I M A L S, 
5*3 
Hirundo cinerea gula abdomineque albis* 
The grey Hirundo , with the throat and belly white. 
This is the fmalleft of the fwallow-kind, but in form it perfedlly refembles the com¬ 
mon fpecies: the head is large and depreffed j the beak is very fmall, black, and 
weak ; the eyes are very large, and their iris of a hazel colour : the head, back, 
wings, bread:, and tail are all of the fame colour, which is a deep rufty greyifh- 
brown, approaching to black, but with a very ftrong tinge of green diffufed over it: 
the throat is ornamented with a large fpot of white, and the belly is white : the long 
feathers in the wings are eighteen in each; the tail is forked, and is compofed of only 
ten feathers: the legs are very fhort, and the feet fmall. 
It is frequent with us about the banks of rivers. All the writers on birds have de- 
fcribed it. Gefner calls it Hirundo riparia five Drepanis; and others ufe the fame name, 
Hirundo cauda Integra , ore cetis ornato. 
The Hirundo , with an undivided tail and Xi)e ©oatfucfcer. 
brijlles at the mouth. 
This is a very Angular fpecies, and has, by the generality of authors, been feparated 
from it’s true and proper genus, and put among the owls j nay, in Englifh, we call it 
the Churn-owl: it is of the fize of the cuckow, and very much refembles it in fhape: 
the back is of a very beautifully variegated hue; the colours are black, white, and 
brown; thefe are blended together in very fine undulations, and among thefe there are 
many feparate and larger fpots of black: the belly is of a pale brown, and there are 
on it fome lines of black, broader than thofe on the back j the breaft is of the fame 
pale colour with undulations of the fame kind, only fmaller. 
k 
The head is large, in proportion to the body ; the ears large and patulous; the beak 
is inconfiderable, depreffed at the bafe, fomewhat hooked at the point, black and 
foft: the feet are fmall, and the middle toe twice as long as the others: the legs are 
fhort and hairy; the tail is long and undivided, and is compofed of ten feathers. 
The feathers of the whole body lie loofe, and are foft and beautiful j it is very An¬ 
gular, that there ftand a kind of whifkers like thofe of the beafts of prey about the 
mouth of this bird j they are compofed each of eight hairs or briftles: the opening of 
the mouth in all the fwallow-kind is enormoufly large, but in this it is more fo than 
in any: the noftrils are prominent, and of a cylindric figure. 
In the male there is a little variegation of white in fome of the long feathers of the 
wings, which diftinguifhes it from the female, in which fex there is no fuch va¬ 
riegation. 
We have this fpecies in many parts of England. Many of the writers on birds have 
defcribed it. Bellonius calls it Strix Caprimulgus, Fur nodturnus; others have conti¬ 
nued the name Caprimulgus. It feeds on infedts, and flies chiefly in the evening, 
PROCELL ARIA. 
T HE beak of the Procellaria is of a compreffed figure^ the upper and under 
chap are equal in length 5 the upper is hooked at the point: the noftrils are of 
a cylindric form; they run parallel to the length of the beak, and grow to it: the 
feet are palmated. 
• \ 
Of this Angular genus there is but one known fpecies. 
6 P 
Pro cel- 
